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Updated: Aug 23, 2026

SwarmSight: Real-time Tracking of Insect Antenna Movements and Proboscis Extension Reflex Using a Common Preparation and Conventional Hardware
Published on: December 25, 2017
Antennae: the strongest magnetic part of the migratory ant
Eliane Wajnberg1, Geraldo Cernicchiaro, Darci Motta de Souza Esquivel
1Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, R. Xavier Sigaud 150, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. elianew@cbpf.br
Abstract:
Pachycondyla marginata (P.m.), a migratory and termitophageous ant, hunting only the termite species Neocapritermes opacus, migrates significantly oriented 13 degrees with respect to the magnetic North-South axis. Results of hysteresis curves at room temperature of four Pachycondyla marginata heads, thorax, pairs of antennae and abdomens, oriented parallel to the magnetic field, indicate that the antennae give the strongest saturation magnetization, suggesting this sensory organ as being also a magnetic sensory organ. The total saturation magnetization in a whole P.m. is composed by 42 +/- 3%, 24 +/- 3%, 19 +/- 3% and 15 +/- 3% of antennae, head, thorax and abdomen contributions, respectively. The abdomen hysteresis curve presents a wasp-waisted loop with Hcr/Hc of 4.75, characteristic of mixed magnetic systems.
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